Run Rabbit Run (2023) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Mia begins claiming she is Alice after visiting her grandmother Joan, who has dementia. When Joan mistakenly identifies Mia as "Alice," it triggers something in Mia, whether a supernatural connection or psychological identification with Sarah's missing sister. The film leaves this ambiguous, suggesting Mia may genuinely believe she is Alice or that Alice's spirit is somehow connected to her.

Foreshadowing: Mia first expresses sadness about never knowing her estranged grandmother before any direct contact, hinting at an unexplained bond.

• mia
• alice
• identity
• joan
• grandmother

Alice was Sarah's younger sister who disappeared years ago at around the same age Mia is now. The film reveals through flashbacks that Sarah accidentally pushed Alice off a cliff during a childhood scuffle, killing her. Sarah has suppressed this traumatic memory throughout her adult life, but it resurfaces as her mental state deteriorates.

Foreshadowing: Sarah's intense emotional reaction to the rabbit bite and her growing hallucinations signal buried trauma being unleashed.

• alice
• sister
• disappearance
• cliff
• childhood

Sarah attempts to remove the rabbit from their yard because she senses Mia becoming overly attached to it and recognizes the incident as an unexpected disruption to their lives. When she throws it over the garden wall, the rabbit bites her, marking a turning point where the film's supernatural or psychological horror elements begin to manifest.

Foreshadowing: The rabbit's appearance coincides with Mia's seventh birthday, the same age Alice was when she disappeared.

• rabbit
• garden
• bite
• throw

Sarah's hallucinations stem from a combination of factors: the infection from the rabbit bite, her psychological deterioration from confronting repressed memories of Alice's death, and her guilt over harming her daughter. As she investigates Mia's strange behavior, buried trauma resurfaces, causing her to blur reality with traumatic flashbacks and visions.

Foreshadowing: Sarah's first hallucination-like moments occur after the rabbit bite, suggesting the infection accelerates her mental breakdown.

• hallucination
• infection
• trauma
• guilt

Joan, who has dementia, confuses Mia for Alice because Alice was her granddaughter who disappeared decades ago. The name "Alice" is clearly deeply embedded in Joan's memory, and seeing Mia, another young girl with a similar age and connection to Sarah, triggers this identification. The film may suggest something more supernatural at play, but Joan's dementia provides the primary explanation.

Foreshadowing: Mia asks about her grandmother and expresses longing to meet her before any visit occurs, hinting at an unexplained connection.

• joan
• alice
• dementia
• grandmother

Mia creates and wears a rabbit mask after witnessing Sarah throw the rabbit over the wall and get bitten. This could represent her identification with the rabbit as a displaced pet, or it may signal her psychological shift toward becoming "Alice", the sister who was also connected to the family through traumatic circumstances the film connects to rabbits and childhood.

Foreshadowing: The rabbit incident directly precedes Mia's mask-making, establishing causation.

• rabbit
• mask
• behavior
• withdrawal

Sarah accidentally cuts Mia with scissors during a confrontation when Mia insists she is Alice. Overwhelmed by her sister's memories and hallucinations, Sarah's mental state breaks down completely. In a moment of confusion between Mia and the ghost of her sister Alice, she lashes out physically, harming the daughter she was trying to protect.

Foreshadowing: The scissors incident follows Sarah's escalating hallucinations and her realization of what she did to Alice.

• scissors
• injury
• confrontation
• meltdown

The ending shows Sarah witnessing Mia holding hands with Alice as they walk toward the cliff, mirroring the childhood event where Sarah pushed Alice to her death. This appears to be either a hallucination or a supernatural moment where Alice's spirit has come to claim Mia, continuing the cycle of tragedy. The ambiguous ending offers no resolution, only the horrifying possibility that history is repeating itself.

Foreshadowing: The entire film builds toward this moment, with the cliff being the location where Alice died decades earlier.

• ending
• cliff
• alice
• ghost
• cycle

Sarah's overreaction to Toby accidentally hitting Mia on the head during the birthday party reveals her protective instincts and underlying psychological instability. This intensity is disproportionate to the incident, hinting at her fragile mental state and unresolved trauma. Peter noting her reaction suggests this is part of a pattern of Sarah's emotional volatility.

Foreshadowing: Sarah's anger foreshadows her complete mental breakdown later in the film as stress compounds.

• sarah
• toby
• reaction
• anger

Mia expresses a strong desire to meet her estranged grandmother Joan despite never having met her, which is unusual for a child. This longing appears connected to the supernatural or psychological events unfolding, Mia seems drawn to Joan because of Alice, either sensing something she shouldn't know or being influenced by forces beyond normal explanation.

Foreshadowing: Mia's request for family pictures to make a tree precedes her urgent need to find Joan.

• mia
• joan
• grandmother
• wants visit